


The Boyfriend Phenomenon

by MarvelousMenagerie (HiddenOne)



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Romantic Fluff, Team as Family, just a touch of sexy times
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-27
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:20:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,316
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26147821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HiddenOne/pseuds/MarvelousMenagerie
Summary: Bucky can't get over how in the future, he can walk hand in hand with his boyfriend down the street. Even better, his boyfriend his Tony Stark.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Comments: 5
Kudos: 287
Collections: Marvel Trumps Hate 2019





	The Boyfriend Phenomenon

**Author's Note:**

  * For [echowolves](https://archiveofourown.org/users/echowolves/gifts).



> For Marvel Trumps Hate.  
> Thanks so much for the wonderful prompt, echowolves! I hope you enjoy!!  
> Thank you to monobuu for beta-ing!

Bucky bit his lip.

He shouldn’t be nervous about this, not anymore. Even if it wasn’t okay now - or at least more okay - he was in much better shape to defend himself then he was before. Still, his heart thundered in his chest and he could feel his blood pulsing in the tips of his fingers. 

He and Tony had just turned onto a less-crowded street where they could slow their pace from the typical New Yorker stride to a casual stroll. 

Bucky wanted to take advantage. His right arm felt as heavy as his metal one as he lifted it up, and he tried to gentle the landing as he settled his arm across Tony’s shoulders and pulled Tony in. 

Tony looked up at him, head tilted in question. “You sure about this?”

Despite his nerves, Bucky smiled wide. “Yup. You?”

Tony smiled back, leading to crinkles around his eyes. A genuine smile. “Sure, I can handle it.”

“Then we’re set,” Bucky declared and squeezed Tony into this side even more. 

Tony practically melted against him, snuggling in, but Bucky couldn’t help but be aware of the cameras pointing in their direction, his instincts wouldn’t let him ignore that. But what Bucky didn’t have to do was  _ care _ about the cameras. 

And it was the best date night he’d had with Tony yet.

Tony had been running late from work, so they’d skipped the show they’d meant to see - Bucky didn’t think he was going to fall in love with the theater anyway - and grabbed a late dinner and then took the scenic route to the ice cream place. Bucky figured that’s what most of New York City was, food and walking, and he’d made it clear to Tony that he liked the simple dates. 

Though flying down to Peru for a mountain climbing party had been great, too. 

And Tony had warned him on multiple occasions about the press, about how persistent they were, about how most of them lacked any type of moral code when it came to invading others' privacy. There’d been a few pictures of them that had popped up already, though nothing Bucky had to seriously worry about. 

This, though - Bucky’s arm across Tony’s shoulders, Tony pressed into Bucky’s side - was a rather romantic photo opportunity. This would make it clear that it was a date, that Bucky and Tony were together, and Bucky - 

Bucky couldn’t be happier. There were nerves, sure, but his heart was also racing because he was walking down a New York City street with his boyfriend for the first time in his life and he couldn’t be more excited. 

He was dating Tony Stark, and he wanted the world to know. 

* * *

“Well, look what cozy couple made the front page,” Clint said around his mouthful of cereal at breakfast the next morning as he waved at Steve’s paper. 

“Chew with your mouth closed,” Steve said, because Steve was the only one stubborn enough to keep trying to improve Clint’s table manners. He flipped to the front page of the paper and held it out for Tony and Bucky to see.

“Ugh, why would I want to see that in print?” Tony grumbled as he shuffled to the coffee pot. “My face is much better with digital resolution.”

Clint laughed. “Says who?” 

“Me,” Bucky said. He smiled at Clint, though he put enough of a threat behind it that it turned into more of a barring of his teeth. 

Clint snorted but went back to his cereal, and Bucky considered the matter settled. Tony gave him a knowing look, but said nothing as he passed Bucky a mug full of coffee. 

“Thanks.” Bucky kissed Tony’s temple and went to see what their food options were. 

Tony smiled at the gesture, but it wasn’t as big of a smile as Bucky’s.

“Ugh, PDA alert,” Clint whined to Natasha as she walked in. 

“That’s what you get for looking,” she told him as she collapsed at the breakfast table. 

Steve got up from the table and poured her a mug of coffee. He set it down in front of her and she grunted her thanks. Steve went back to his paper and pretended to ignore Clint rolling his eyes. 

“Why am I the only one who no one brings coffee?” Clint muttered.

“Because you have your own pot that you drink straight out of,” Steve answered. 

Clint grinned. “Ah, that’s right.” 

They’d had to get a second coffee maker, one that was designated for Clint and the other for the rest of the team. Even Tony knew how to share coffee better than Clint, and Bucky thought that was saying something. Of course, even Clint’s own coffee maker didn’t mean the hawk wasn’t always on the lookout for more coffee to steal. 

Like right now, where Clint’s hand was inching towards Natasha’s mug. 

“You want eggs?” Bucky asked Tony. “I can make us a batch.”

Natasha smacked Clint’s hand away from her coffee. “I want eggs.”

“Boyfriend-only offer,” Bucky replied smoothly. He grinned at Natasha’s glare. He was awake enough if she wanted to throw a knife or two at him for that. 

“Yes to eggs,” Tony told Bucky, and then, “and no to the boyfriend killing,” Tony said to Natasha. “I like him, he’s mine, no touchy.”

Bucky beamed as he got the eggs out of the fridge and started cracking. Scrambled eggs were Bucky’s only setting for making eggs, and Tony already knew that. 

Because Tony was his boyfriend, and this wasn’t their first morning together, or even their first in front of the team. Still, Bucky wasn’t used to the warm happy feeling that bubbled in his chest as Tony drank his coffee and bantered with Steve all while leaning against Bucky’s shoulder as Bucky cooked with one arm. 

Not even the Avengers alarm blaring and interrupting their breakfast could destroy Bucky’s good mood. 

Which it did, because it was Wednesday, and for some reasons villains assumed that the middle of the week was just awful enough to throw the Avengers off their game. 

Bucky downed the rest of his coffee, turned off the stove, and grabbed a handful of protein bars from the drawer. He tossed one to Tony, who was finishing his coffee as he made for the exit and another to Nat, who was already half-way out the door. 

The one he threw to Clint hit him in the back of the head on his way out, and the ensuing squawk was just a bonus.

* * *

It wasn’t a villain’s poorly laid out plan this time, but sea creatures crawling onto the Florida beaches. Bucky wasn’t even surprised at the mutant squid because this was just his life now, plus the Roxxon not-spill that happened last week that the CEO said was completely contained - but of course wasn’t - was going to give rise to something unsavory. Mutant creatures weren’t too much of a problem. 

And just messy enough that Bucky could grab a shower with his boyfriend. 

“Help me with my hair?” Bucky asked. 

“Lean back a bit,” Tony ordered, and Bucky did. 

The feeling of Tony’s fingers running through his hair was amazing. Bucky groaned and gave himself to the delicious sensation that was running along his scalp. Tony knew just how to scratch to send tingles shooting through Bucky’s system, and it was the best. 

“Is that a challenge?” Tony asked with a laugh when Bucky told him. “I mean, I know I give a good scalp massage, but honey. Better than an orgasm? Come on.”

“You don’t understand because you have shorter hair,” Bucky half-heartedly argued. 

Tony lathered the soap in Bucky’s hair some more. Bucky guessed that his hair was mostly clean by now, but like hell was he going to tell Tony to stop. 

“Let’s just consider this fantastic foreplay then, hm? The whole package can be the best thing ever.”

Bucky grinned, but he had a hard time retorting with the lump in his throat. 

“Honey?” Tony pressed. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re the whole package,” Bucky said, his voice rougher than he’d like.

“Of course I am.” Tony rubbed up against Bucky. 

Bucky shook his head and laughed. “Yes, that too, I mean.” He straightened and turned, framing Tony’s face. “This, with you. The whole - the whole dating thing. You’re more than I ever dreamed was possible.”

Tony ducked his head, but Bucky brought Tony’s face back up. 

“You’re just saying that because you couldn’t tell anyone you had a boyfriend back in the ‘30s,” Tony mumbled.

“I like gettin’ to show you off,” Bucky admitted as he rubbed his thumbs along Tony’s cheekbones. The hot water pounded on them, but Bucky didn’t mind. The water in Stark Tower would stay hot as long as they wanted. “That’s true enough. But damn, Tony. Just getting to date you is - you’re the whole thing. I couldn’t have treated you right back then, taking you out. Or even relaxing on the porch, drinking a beer, without appearing too friendly for the neighbors.” Bucky searched for words to explain this huge, ballooning pressure in his chest. “I’m just - so glad to be here, with you.”

“I’m naked, of course you are,” Tony teased gently with a smile. 

Bucky took a long, slow look and let himself appreciate it. “I do enjoy the naked part,” he agreed. “But I’m so glad that I get to be with you. Here and out there and…”

Bucky’s words failed him, but Tony just leaned forward and kissed him. “Most people just stick with ‘I love you,’ but that works too.” Tony’s words were soft, his eyes filled with a brimming warmth that Bucky would trade a lot to see every day. “And for the record? Right back at you.”

Bucky kissed Tony, aiming for something soft and romantic but the desperation crept in and before he knew it he was pushing Tony against the shower wall. He needed the sweetness in Tony’s mouth, craved it like it was the last taste he was ever going to get. Tony only pulled him closer, nails digging into Bucky’s shoulders. 

Bucky ran his hands down Tony’s body, trying to avoid the bruises that Tony had gotten during the earlier fight. Tony got tossed around a little too much for Bucky’s liking, and so he tried to keep his touch gentle. It was hard to resist though, as Tony melted and moved against him. Hard not to grasp, to push and pull too fast and too much with his strength. Tony only ever moaned for more, enjoying the rough handling, but Bucky craved the sweetness of the moment too much to wreck it with a harsh touch. 

He brought them off with his fist, Tony first and then Bucky following soon after. 

Tony smiled with satisfaction as he leaned against Bucky’s chest. “You know this means I’m going to fall asleep during movie night.”

“What are the odds they’ll let us stay curled up in bed. Miss one?” Bucky huffed as he considered the odds. 

“Not a chance, Buckaroo.” Tony laughed. “Now come on, where’s that super soldier energy? Clean us up and get us out of here so I can fall asleep against your shoulder five minutes into the movie.”

It was Natasha’s turn to choose, and because she loved to torture them she picked Kraken : Tentacles of the Deep. They all booed her choice, even Steve, but they were too tired to put up the fight that would be necessary to change Natasha’s mind. Even Steve. 

“Steve,” Tony whined from where his face was already pressed against Bucky’s shoulder in preparation for falling asleep. “Come on, you never give up the fight.”

Steve groaned and tossed a few kernels of popcorn at Tony’s face. Bucky caught them mid-air and popped them into his mouth with a smile as Steve gave him a disgusted look. 

“Don’t protect him. He deserved that,” Steve said. His hair was plastered against his forehead, wet from his own shower, and in his sweatpants and T-shirt he somehow managed to make himself appear small tucked into the end of the couch. 

Bucky liked the look. It was more Steve and less Captain America, and a place in Bucky’s heart relaxed knowing that was still the case. That Steve could have that here, with the team, just like Bucky could have Tony tucked into his side. 

“Of course I will,” Bucky told Steve as he shot Steve a grin. “But maybe he did.”

“What are you going to do about it?” Tony challenged with a ton of confidence while he half-hid behind Bucky’s body. 

“Absolutely nothing.” Steve tipped his head back into the couch and closed his eyes. “Certainly not give away more of my popcorn - hey!”

“You mean my popcorn there, Frisbee,” Sam said as he yanked the popcorn bowl away and hugged it to his chest. “I can’t believe you wasted some of this on Bucky.”

“It was ammunition,” Steve protested.

“Pipe down,” Natasha said. “We’re about to start the movie.”

“That none of us want to watch,” Sam argued. “Including you.”

“Consider it research,” she answered primly. 

“This is not research,” Bucky protested with a groan. “This is torture.”

“Everyone be quiet now,” Natasha said, her voice light but there was danger there.

No one dared to argue then, not even Tony or Clint who intentionally poked Natasha’s buttons more. She had a soft spot for those idiots, and they abused that at every turn. 

But not tonight. Tonight, Clint just shrugged and continued eating an entire line of hot dogs that he’d cooked up, and Tony was already half-asleep against Bucky’s shoulder. 

Bucky tucked the blanket in more tightly around Tony’s side, and snuggled in for a torture session with his boyfriend. Let Natasha and her sea monster movie do her worst. Right now, Bucky felt he could handle anything. 


End file.
